Piccolomini Castle, Ortucchio: A Renaissance Castle in Italy
Site at a Glance
- Country
- Italy
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Kingdom of Naples
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page6 sections
History
Piccolomini Castle, Ortucchio, is a Renaissance castle in Italy, commissioned in 1488 by Antonio Todeschini Piccolomini. The Renaissance was a European cultural and artistic period that began in Italy and flourished from the fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries. Piccolomini ordered the castle after military commander Napoleone Orsini destroyed an earlier fortification.
The castle originally stood on an island beside Lake Fucino, and a moat connected to the lake helped protect it. When the lake was drained, this defensive protection was lost. The 1915 Avezzano earthquake damaged the castle, which was restored during the 1970s. It was declared a national monument in the early twentieth century.
Remains
The restored ruin is a lowland castle near the southern edge of the Fucino plain. Built from irregular stones, it has a rectangular plan organized around an enclosed interior.
Castle plan and principal features
Walls and towers
The castle walls form a rectangle, with circular towers at the corners. At the northwest corner, the tower survives only at foundation level.
Entrance
The entrance faces the village. A stone plaque above the portal gives the date of the Piccolomini rebuilding.
Keep
Within the walls stands the keep, the castle’s principal fortified tower and its oldest structure. Battlements, raised sections separated by openings, run around its entire perimeter.
